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IRS tax scams: Letters on a desk.

How to Stay Protected from Tax Fraud and Scams in Southern California

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Have you received an email claiming to be from the IRS that doesn’t sit right? Or perhaps a phone call demanding immediate payment? These are typical examples of IRS tax scams targeting individuals and businesses. For small business owners in Southern California, it’s critical to recognize, avoid, and report such scams while working with reliable professionals like Summerhill Tax Services for expert tax preparation and guidance. 

Understanding IRS Tax Scams 

Scammers are getting more sophisticated at impersonating the IRS or tax professionals. These scams exploit common fears about audits, penalties, and late payments. Small business owners are vulnerable as they regularly interact with forms, payments, and compliance procedures. 

Fake IRS notices sent via email, text, phone call, or even mailed letters often ask for personal information or instant payments. Recognizing the red flags is the first step to protecting your finances and personal data from fraud. 

Tips to Recognize and Avoid Tax Scams 

Here are actionable ways to stay one step ahead of scammers targeting your business or personal taxes. 

1. Know How the IRS Communicates 

Legitimate communication from the IRS will never include threatening phone calls, demands for gift cards, or unsolicited emails requesting sensitive information. They typically send notices via mail first. 

How Summerhill Tax Services Can Help: 

Summerhill Tax Services continually reviews any IRS correspondence you receive to confirm legitimacy. If you’re unsure, bring it to our office in Murrieta, and our seasoned tax professionals will guide you. 

2. Beware of Phishing Scams 

Phishing emails and websites are among the most common ways scammers steal information. These emails often contain links or attachments that compromise your data. 

Pro Tip: Never click on suspicious links or share financial details online unless you’ve verified the source. 

3. Use Trusted Tax Preparation Services 

Working with dependable professionals for tax preparation reduces the chances of errors and fraudulent filings. Scammers often use fake tax preparer credentials to lure victims. 

Why Choose Summerhill Tax Services: 

We’ve been helping Southern California businesses safeguard their tax filings with 15+ years of expertise. Unlike fly-by-night preparers, we’re available year-round to offer continued support. 

4. Protect Sensitive Information 

Never share your Social Security number, EIN, or banking details without verifying the recipient. Store sensitive documents securely and dispose of old records properly. 

5. Watch Out for Fraudulent Refund Schemes 

Some scams trick victims by offering inflated refunds for personal details. Remember, legitimate tax consultants will never promise substantial refunds or deposit money directly into their accounts. 

Summerhill Tax Safeguards: 

Our tax experts ensure every refund claim complies with IRS rules, eliminating the risk of fraudulent claims under your name. 

6. Report Scam Attempts 

If you encounter suspicious activity, report it immediately to the IRS (use form 14039 for identity theft or visit the IRS’s scam reporting page). Reporting helps reduce their prevalence. 

IRS tax scams: Letters on a desk.

Why Professional Expertise Matters for Small Businesses 

Tax-related scams can be especially damaging to small business owners, leading to penalties, data loss, or even identity theft. However, by working with trusted tax professionals like Summerhill Tax Services in Southern California, you can significantly mitigate these risks. 

At Summerhill, we combine expert tax preparation with proactive fraud protection. Our team knows the Murrieta area well and understands small businesses’ unique challenges. Whether it’s reviewing IRS correspondence, providing secure tax filing, or offering reliable consultation, we’re committed to supporting your business year-round. 

Secure Your Business with Confidence 

Protecting yourself from tax fraud and scams begins with staying informed and working with seasoned professionals. Don’t leave your finances or personal data to chance. With Summerhill Tax Services, Southern California businesses can rest assured their taxes are in expert hands. 

Learn more about how we can help safeguard your tax filings. Contact us today for a free consultation, or stop by our office in Murrieta. 

Self-Employed and the Holidays

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Being Self-Employed in the holidays can be very hard if you don’t have a plan. This time of year sales aren’t doing as well  or there stagnant and you just aren’t prepared for the additional cost. Disappointing your family again with a cheap Christmas can make you feel like a failure in your business.

Don’t let Christmas be an expense you didn’t prepare for. Create a budget that includes the holidays as a line item. A lot of times we have a budget in are head that has to do with Monthly expenses and when an unforeseen cost comes we are not prepared and it can become devastating. Here some tips to help you prepare:

Take a look at what you spent on Christmas last year.

Start by plugging in your normal monthly expenses like gas, utilities, insurance and groceries. Then, enter your more flexible spending budget groups, like dining out and fun money. What’s left? Will that be enough for Christmas? If not, you may have to adjust some of that flexible spending to make it work.

If you typically spend $300 on restaurants in a month, why not cook a few extra meals at home and stash an extra $200 toward Christmas savings? Or if your fun money is sitting pretty at $150 a month, why not hold off (temporarily) and put an extra $100 into your Christmas fund? Smart budgeting now can free up more money for what you want later—like Christmas presents!

Separate your Christmas budget into categories

Gifts are usually the largest Christmas budget expense, just remember you need to budget for all things Christmas—including decorations, wrapping paper, travel, festive meals, charitable donations, and anything else you’re planning to do over the holidays.

Once you’ve figured out how much you can spend on Christmas, do some simple math. Take your number—let’s say $500—and think over your seasonal expenses. You’ll need money for travel ($50), a tree and trimmings ($70), a few potluck parties ($30), and some extra giving ($50). Then there’s the big one: Christmas gifts ($300). Make a goal amount and stick to it! You’ll be amazed at how quickly you can pile up a stash of cash when you just make a point to save.

Now that you have your Christmas budget all set, you know how much you’ll need to add to your Christmas fund. As long as you plan where your money will go before you spend it, there’s no right or wrong way to split up your Christmas budget.

Next Year Plan ahead with a Christmas fund.

You know Christmas is in December every year, so there’s no reason to act like it suddenly snuck up on you. Start putting away money for Christmas now!

Once you’ve determined the total you want to spend on Christmas, determine when you want to start saving and divide it by the number of weeks left until Christmas.

Expenses, Assets & Depreciation

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Most business owners are familiar with the Profit & Loss Report, to most money you make is income and money that goes out is an expense. But that’s not always the case, an expense is something that gets used up rather quickly and therefore the benefit is used up quickly.  Some examples are office supplies, you purchase during the year and they get used up during the year. But there are other purchases that tend to hold up business owners record keeping because even though money is being spent, it is not fully expensed the year they you use it. This can give you a incorrect analysis of your business and not match up when it comes to taxes.

Assets

Sometimes when you make a purchase it’s not an expense, it’s actually an asset.  An asset is something where the usefulness is used up over the course of several years. It provides a benefit over a longer period of time.  Examples include equipment, vehicles, or a computer.

As an example, when you purchase a vehicle and use it to deliver products, it’s providing a benefit to you over the course of much more than just one year.   That’s the difference between an asset and an expense.  Does the purchase benefit you over the course of a long period of time?  An asset will help you continue to earn revenue over the course of several years.

Matching Revenues and Expenses

In accounting rules, revenue and its associated expenses should be recorded in the same period.  This is called matching.  Let’s say you purchased a camera and recorded the entire purchase as an expense in the year you purchased it — 2015.  But the camera helps you earn money in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 . . . a long time.  So the expense and the revenue aren’t matched up together.   You’ve got revenue produced by the camera recorded over the course of several years, but the expense of the camera is only recorded in one year.  The revenue and expense are not matched.

Matching is a very important accounting principle, the revenue and associated expense need to be matched together.  This is where depreciation comes into play.  The way you get the revenue and expense to match up, is to depreciate that asset over the course of several years.

Depreciation

Lets say you bought a $5,000 computer, that expense needs to spread out over how long you think you will have that computer.  In other words, The expense needs to spread over the computer’s useful life – the period of time that it will be of benefit to you.  Often for small equipment that’s 3-5 years.  Let’s say you think the computer will last you 5 years, (i.e. it has a useful life of 5 years) you take $5,000/5 years=$1,000 of depreciation you should take each year on that computer.

In this way you are spreading out the expense to match the revenue you earn in future years.

Depreciation also serves to show that the asset you purchased is losing value every year.  Let’s say you are a florist who purchased a vehicle to deliver flowers.  It’s only used for business.  You purchased the vehicle for $20,000 and you think it will last you for 10 years, so that’s $2,000 of depreciation every year.  The car is helping you earn your revenue over the course of 10 years.   When you take that depreciation each year, you can see that that car is losing value every year.  After the first year of depreciation the asset is valued at $18,000, after the second year $16,000, and so on.

That makes sense in our heads.  A car loses value every year.  As the years go on, your asset is losing value.  Depreciation shows that declining value.

What if your not ready to file your taxes by April 18th?

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Are you worried about not filing your taxes on time?

The last day to file your tax return is Monday April 18th. No worries! You can always file an extension, also the state of California does an automatic file extension for you. The IRS actually gives you 6 more months. This is good news for people who have not yet file because they probably moved from a different state and have not yet received all their forms, or just haven’t had the time to get the tax form done. Even though the IRS gives you an extension and your procrastinating because you owe you should calculate how much you owe and send a payment to the IRS remember they may charge penalties and interest if you don’t pay on time.